Neece's Stranger: The Humanoid Typhoon
by ssjjvash
Summary: Neece's father has been gone too long. He is searching for moon rocks in the destroyed city of July. Neece knows something is wrong. Her mom goes to the police for help, while Neece enlists the help of two crazy insurance girls, and Vash the Stampede!
1. Chapter 1

First, you should know I wrote and posted this before, but had to take it off to edit it. Trust me, the edited version is better. Any comments/criticisms are welcome. I hope you enjoy it.

**Disclaimer**: Trigun ain't mine. As for the other characters…I might use them in other Trigun stories, so yeah.

Chapter 1.

I still remember the day _he_ put the hole in the fifth moon. Not very many people saw him, but I did. Someone was with him; I don't know who. The fifth moon isn't very bright now, and you can tell exactly where the hole is. You can see it at night.

Funny, that day I was complaining that everything was boring and nothing fun ever happened in our town. I was so close to the blast I saw some of my hair fly off because it was singed! Jingle said it made my hair style better. I took it as a sad excuse for him trying to be polite.

It's been three months since the man came to town. My mom still complains of headaches from the loud blast. My dad, who is a scientist, went out to look for moon rocks that may have fallen down. He left a few days after the occurrence and hasn't been back since. I thought about going to look for him, but there's no chance of that, I know.

There are many myths about him; many legends and theories. I hear them from everyone. Rumors have it there's a 60,000,000,000 double dollar reward on his head! My dad said he wishes we could catch him to earn the reward. He wants to move from our city to a nicer area. He didn't seem like the bad guy type to me. Something about his eyes….

"Neece, what are you waiting for? You haven't finished the dishes. Are you daydreaming again?" My older sister, Maya, calls for me. She tries to act like she can take care of me by herself, but I can tell she doesn't want to most of the time. Let me put it this way, my family is against girls doing anything but dishes and laundry. I'm being a bit sarcastic.

"Oh, no, the water's cold." I mumbled. An hour has been wasted yet again. I can't help but keep thinking about the explosion and how my dad has been gone for so long. Too many horrible people are out there who don't care about anything save themselves.

"Hi, done yet?" Jingle popped his head into the kitchen window.

It startled me. "How long have you been there? I didn't even see you."

He laughed. "You never see me. If I was the Humanoid Typhoon, I would have blown you away." He aimed his fingers at me like a gun and pretended to shoot.

"What are you talking about? Is that a new bandit or something? I haven't heard any—"

He shook his head. "No, silly! Don't you remember? He blew a hole in the moon. Everyone is talking about him this week. I hear he's in town. He wears red all the time. It stands for everyone he's killed…blood red." He grinned wickedly. Jingle loves to tell stories, true or not, sometimes you can't tell the difference.

"Is that his name?" I asked as I filled the sink up with more warm water. "Hm, the Humanoid Typhoon…. That sounds really—did you say he's in town?"

He paused and looked at me. "That depends…are you ready to go?"

"What do you mean? I can't go anywhere until I finish my chores. It's always the same. Of course, the last time I said that, he came here." I washed and rinsed as I spoke. I finished in five minutes, but I did a horrible job!

I grabbed my shoes by the front door and ran out as fast as I could. "Where shall we look first?" I asked.

"I thought you'd never finish! Did you get a haircut?"

I rolled my eyes. "That's the twentieth time you've asked that in three months. It got old the second time!" He was making fun of my hair again. My mom assured me it would grow back; it hasn't yet.

We ran around for a couple of hours. No one had heard or seen anything. Pretty soon, we forgot about our search and played in the well. Not many girls play there, only one of my friends does, because it is the dirtiest place to go. Men are digging for water, but they haven't found any yet. Our water supply is limited, but I don't know how we manage.

"I need a shower! If Mom sees me, I'll never hear the end of it." I said after we were done.

We took the quickest route home going through some back roads. The sun had almost completely disappeared and the moons began to show. The fifth one stuck out above the rest, or maybe it was my imagination.

"Dr. Ernest won't say a word. I don't know how to get him to talk! I mention any weak points and he acts like he doesn't care. I haven't let him see daylight for two months and he won't crack."

I stopped mid-run and watched Jingle and the others go on ahead of me. I heard a man mention my father's name and I wondered what they were talking about. Shawna came back. "Why'd you—?"

I shushed her before she said another word. I ducked down and crawled on my hands and knees over to where the guy was talking. I looked through the window, but no one was there. I turned the corner and saw three tall guys talking amongst themselves.

One had a dark mask on. He stood against the wall not saying a word. Another of them looked very anxious. He kept looking over his shoulder as if someone was listening. Someone was listening, but not behind him. The other acted nonchalant.

The normal-looking guy said, "Don't worry about it! Everyone's got a weak spot, you just have to probe harder, or use a different method. He won't go for torture or loss of belongings, so there has to be something else we haven't done yet."

My eyes bugged out. What did he mean? I wondered if they knew where my dad was.

"What? What then? I'm out of ideas and time and the boss is depending on me!" The nervous man panicked. He kept wringing his hands.

"Calm down, Corrin, I have an idea that will get us both out of this mess."

"Did he find something?" The masked man spoke up.

"He won't say. Don't worry, nobody can stop us. Everyone's tried and failed, disappearing off the planet. Once we are done with this doctor, stolen his work, and capture the double dollar man, we'll be the richest people in the solar system. Not to mention the most powerful!"

What did that mean? They were planning to steal my dad's work and get rid of him so we'd never see him again? Why? I stood up and bumped my head. Shawna gasped next to me. They heard us.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: Trigun ain't mine. As for the other characters…I might use them in other Trigun stories, so yeah.

Chapter 2.

"D-did you hear that? Is he listening?"

"Quiet, you fool! Put your gun away before you wake up the city and alert the police. Anyway, he's not even in the city, so how could he find out?"

"I know how,"

"What do you mean, Dex?"

I poked my head to look at them again and they were looking my way. I don't know if they really saw me or not, but I didn't wait to find out. "We're outta' here!" I whispered to Shawna and saw Jingle right next to her. How did he just appear like that? I yelped slightly. It set Corrin on edge again.

Jingle pointed his finger in the direction of home so we got up and started running. A shot rang out and I covered my ears.We didn't have to look back to know who did it.

"Darn kids! You'll learn to mind your own business when I'm through with you!" One of them started running after us.

"You two go that way while I go straight home, okay?" Jingle always came up with the plans. We split up and didn't stop running until we were home. Shawna's house came first so I kept running. I heard them give up after a while so I went home and ran straight up to Mom, forgetting how dirty I appeared.

"What on earth happened to you? It looks like you've been digging in the dirt!"

I got caught, but I didn't stop for anything. "Mom, you have to listen! These guys are torturing Dad and they want to steal his work and be the richest people in the world. We have to stop them—"

"Hold on a second, Denise. You are dusty and filthy and you've probably been in the heat too long. Go take a long bath and then you can talk to me."

"But Mo-om," she wouldn't listen and made me take a bath.

"Will you listen now?" I said looking at her intently after I came out of the washroom.

She sat down in a comfortable chair and put me on her lap. "You're getting too heavy for this," she complained.

"These three guys know where Dad is and they are hurting him! We have to call the police."

"What three guys? I bet lots of people know where your father is."

"This is different. I've never seen them before tonight, but they said they want to steal his work and be really rich and stuff. They may even catch the guy who put a hole in the moon."

What I said made her laugh. "That would be nice, sweetie, but in reality, that is not going to happen. Do you know their names?"

I thought back. "The nervous guy's name is Corrin and the masked man is named Dex. I don't know why he had a mask, but they heard us and started chasing us and we ran all the way home!"

She hardly understood me at all so I had to repeat what I said. She still didn't believe me. "It's not right to make up stories like this. There is no reason for anyone to kidnap your dad and steal his ideas."

"What if it was true and it did happen? What would you do then?" I pressed.

"Well, I'd…"

A knock at our door interrupted our conversation. She said we'd continue in the morning and Maya came to tuck me in bed. _She did that on purpose!_ I thought. This thirteen year old girl would not allow it to be ignored!

After Maya went to her room, I crept silently out of bed to see who was at the door. Two men in uniforms stood in the doorway talking silently to Mom. I couldn't hear what they were saying. I figured they were some sort of police.

Mom invited them in and they sat in our living room sipping tea and eating some bread. It made me hungry just looking at it. I can't believe she had company over after I went to bed! They whispered back and forth for a while until my mom let out a gasp. That settled it for me. I _had_ to know what was going on!

"Hey, Mom, have you seen my…oh, who are they?" They all stared at me.

"What do you want, dear?" Mom asked, rather miffed because I interrupted her.

I couldn't think of anything I was missing so I had to make something up. "Have you seen my…uh, my hat?" I don't own a hat.

"No, now go back to bed." She ordered.

I couldn't do that now that I was here. "Who are they?" I asked again, not giving up.

My mom sighed. "I can't keep anything from you, can I? If you must know, I hired these men to look for your father. I didn't want to scare you, Denise, but he is missing."

I looked at the two guys. Maybe they would listen to me and I could help them find Dad! "I have a couple of clues. Mom, did you tell them what I said? I was right: those guys _do_ know where he is."

My mom shook her head, but one of the men looked interested. "Wait, do you think you have a lead or a clue? Let us hear it. Right now, anything will be helpful."

I beamed. I started from the beginning. "My friends and I were coming home from the well and I heard one guy mention Dr. Ernest so I sat and listened…" I told them everything that happened and included the names I heard.

One man had a pointy beard. He turned to his partner, "Are they the ones we are looking for? They must somehow be involved with Vash the Stampede."

"Who isVash the Stampede?" I asked. Was he the bossCorrin worried about? "He must be the boss." I said my thoughts out loud.

"I'm surprised you don't know. Everybody in the city knows who he is by now! He blew a hole in the moon and he's a wanted criminal." The other man answered.

"Oh, no, that can't be right. One of the guys is afraid of him, so how can he be the boss? Besides, I don't believe he's really that bad." I stated.

The man with the beard shook his head. "You're the only one who doesn't think he's bad. Little girl, you don't know what he's like. He's killed people from this town, and many others besides. You said yourself that guy was scared of his boss. If he's scared of both of them, they're probably the same people."

Mom decided we were through with our conversation and she made the two gentlemen wait while she made sure I went to bed this time. I did, but I didn't stop thinking about it. It didn't make sense at all. I still didn't find out what everyone was after and I didn't make my point that the Vash guy was innocent. Maybe if I was older they wouldlisten to me.

"Man, I heard someone outside of my house all night! I almost grabbed a flashlight to find out who it was, but I fell asleep before I could." That was Jingle's side of the story. I knew he made it up this time. He's too smart to have someone follow him home.

"Yeah, right!" Shawna crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue. Shelearned that from her brothers, I think.

I told both of them what happened to me last night and they looked blankly at me. I understood not believing Jingle, but I'm no good at making up stories! "You believe me, right?" I asked to make sure.

"Uh, sure," Shawna glanced at Jingle and raised her eyebrows. I folded my arms and tried to look mad. They shrugged their shoulders.

"Look, forget it, okay? Let's just do something; I'm bored." Jingle suggested.

We were just sitting around outside the house. For a change of pace we ran to the general store to pick up some sandwiches for lunch. "Here you go, kids," said Amanda, the store clerk.

There were benches and tables in the store so we sat there to eat. "Hey, Shawna, what are you doing here? I thought we were going to play at the well again today." One of her friends, Cody, walked in the store. He looked out of breath from running. "I've searched everywhere for you guys."

"Oh, sorry, guys," Shawna said to us. "I did promise them. Come out with us when you're done!" She invited. Jingle stuffed his sandwich in his mouth and joked that I ate too slow, and then he went with them. I laughed and waved goodbye.

Before I finished, a weird man came in the door. He was really tall and I had to raise my head just to look him in the eyes. At first I was afraid that he was one of the men from last night, but if he was, he didn't recognize me.

He had blonde hair that stuck up off his head. He had a pair oforange shades. He wore a red coat over a black outfit and had some tall black boots. My uncle had a pair of boots like that once.

"Hey, there, ma'am!" He said to Amanda. "Man, I'm hungry! You don't know where I could get some free food, do you? I especially like donuts, you know." He smiled, showing his pearly white teeth.

I raised my eyebrows. This guy was strange. Amanda stuttered in answering him. "Well, er…see, uh, you have to pay for the food here. It's not free."

The man hung his head. "Oh, man, now what am I going to do? I'm so hungry and I don't have any money." He pounded on the counter, whining over and over again until he noticed me. I looked away quickly.

He walked right in front of me and pulled up a chair, turned it around and sat in it. "Say there, little girl, are you gonna' eat that?" He looked at the rest of my chicken sandwich intently and then at me and back at the quarter of my sandwich.

He made me feel bad for him, so I pushed it away from me. He practically swallowed it whole. He grabbed my bottle of milk too. I couldn't help but stare with my mouth hanging open.

Amanda sighed. "If only I could catch Vash the Stampede, then I could afford to give out free food…."

The man spit out what was in his mouth. "HA-HA-HA-HA! Yeah, I know exactly what you mean."

I stood up and backed away from the table. He was beginning to scare me.

"Hey, where are you going? Do you have any more food?" He got down on his hands and knees and searched the ground for crumbs. I glanced at Amanda.

"Excuse me, sir; if you don't have any money, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

I let out a sigh of relief. Then I thought to myself, if I didn't want to stay, I could just go to the well to play with everyone. I waved goodbye to Amanda and headed out the door. Unfortunately, the man followed. At least he wouldn't bother Amanda any more.

"Wait, girl! Stop, I need help!" I turned around and he stooped down to the ground and grabbed my hand. "You have to help me find my way out of the city, or tell me who can." He smiled widely.

I jerked my hand away. "Uh, well, I don't think I'm the right person to ask. I could take you to my mom; she wouldknow."

He jumped up and down. "Oh, thank you, thank you!"

"By-the-way, my name's Denise. What's yours?" I asked.

He scratched his head. "Eh heh, well...oh, look, is that your dad?" He pointed to no one in particular.

I looked there anyway and answered right away. "My dad's not here. He's…" I didn't trust him enough to tell him what happened.

The man got serious. "Oh, he's dead? I'm sorry,"

"Oh, no, he's not dead…at least I hope not. He's just…not here."

"Now I'm confused!" He said.

I kicked at a rock and some sand. "You won't believe me if I tell you. No one else does."

"Aw, c'mon, you can tell Uncle V.!" He smiled.

I sighed heavily. "Okay then, I warned you. Someone kidnapped my dad and wants to steal his work in order to make a lot of money and be really powerful. They also want to get the reward for Vash the Stampede to make them rich. You know, the guy who blew a hole in the fifth moon."

"Oh, yeah. Everybody's after him."

"Don't tell me you're after him too! He's innocent; I just know it! I was around, you know, when he did that. That's why my hair is messed up."

He perked up at that."You think he's innocent? I thought I was the only one. I'm sorry about your hair though."

"It's not your fault, Mister. How could you have stopped it? No one could. Do you really believe me though?" I looked straight into his eyes. He gave a slight nod with his head. I smiled, relieved. "I didn't get your name. Is it really Uncle V.?"

"Uh yeah, that's it; that's me, Uncle V."

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A/N: Well, this chapter is kind of long in my opinion, but I really don't know how to shorten it! Hopefully I'll get the next chapter up faster.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer**: This is me not owning Trigun :(

This is me putting in another chapter :)

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**Recap:** Previously, we read that Neece met "Uncle V." Next we will see the craziness that ensues….

Chapter 3.

I saw Shawna and Jingle run up to me just then. "Hey, Neece, where have you been? We didn't see you in the store. Come on, we're building a big mountain and we need your help!" Shawna said.

"Okay, in a minute. I have to help this man find his way out of town first."

"Hey, you're in luck; I know every street around here!" Jingle bragged. _Too bad you don't know where my dad is,_ I thought to myself.

Shawna came with us and it took us until about three in the afternoon to get there. Uncle V. didn't talk much. He acted so silly in the store, but now he was really serious. Jingle tried to impress him with the latest stories he'd heard and experienced, but not even that worked.

We got to a certain part of town and Shawna and I stopped. "Jingle, we aren't allowed to go any further. Can't you just point the way?" I reminded. Up ahead were where the police station was and the jail and most of the people who owned vehicles.

Jingle stopped. "Oh, yeah, right. Well, it looks like you'll have to continue on your own now. Just go straight until you reach a fork in the road and then turn right. You might want to stay as far away from the left as you can. Most of the dangerous stuff happens there. Also, the news reporters breathe down everyone's throat that comes by…" he continued on with another far-fetched story, but the guy didn't listen.

"Hey," I complained, "he didn't even say goodbye." We watched him go pretty far down and he took a left at the fork in the road.

"He's either really brave, works with the news, or really stupid." Shawna perceived. "Which one do you think it is?" She asked me.

I shrugged my shoulders and we turned around and went home. "All I know is that he believed me when I told him that Vash guy is not so bad and my dad was kidnapped. I think he's brave."

"It sounds like he might work for the news to me." Jingle said. "Or, what if he's one of those guys who have your dad? Then he must be looking for trouble." He added.

Back in my neighborhood the next day, I had to do the dishes and laundry, so I couldn't play. Maya was out doing only Mom knows what! _Just wait until I'm older!_ I thought as I hung the laundry up to dry.

As I stuck the last dress up, I saw two ladies walking toward my house. I wondered if they were more investigators Mom had hired. They seemed to be arguing over something. I thought it would be a good idea to help them out.

"Excuse me, can I help you?" I walked straight up to them.

They stopped and looked at me. One was really tall with long brown hair, while the other lady was a head shorter with black hair. She answered and said, "Yes, I heard that there has been a kidnapping around here and I'm trying to find the house of that person. Do you have any idea what I'm talking about?"

"You're talking about my dad. Come on, I'll take you to my mother. Did she hire you too? Are you looking for him?"

"Not exactly, see we're from the Burnardelli Insurance Company and we heard that Vash the Stampede is involved so we've been called—"the tall lady began to explain.

I interrupted her. "Oh, never mind, I can't help you." I stopped walking.

"Wait a minute, why not?" The short one demanded. She put her hands on her hips.

"It must be different because I know Vash the Stampede isn't involved. He just isn't the kind of guy who'd do that, I'm sure of it!"

They looked startled. "You know who he is?" They spoke in unison.

I blushed. "Well, no, but…"

The short lady shook her head. "Then you can't say that. You don't know it's true."

I fumed. "You can't say he's guilty because you can't prove that either!"

"She's got a point, Merrill," said the tall lady.

"Shut-up, Millie!" Merrill retorted.

I told them to follow me and we went to my front door. I stepped inside and told them to wait while I called Mom. "There are some people from the insurance company here to see you."

My mom groaned. "What makes them think we can afford insurance?" She let them in anyway and politely listened to what they had to say. If I were Mom, I would have sent them away in an instant.

She told me later that she felt sorry for them. They came a long way and were just trying to earn a living like the rest of us, so the least we could do would be to give them the benefit of a doubt. I didn't catch everything she said so it didn't make a lot of sense.

I showed them to the door when they were through talking. I followed them outside too. "Well, where to now, Merrill?" Millie asked.

"I don't know. First, we have to find Vash the Stampede, and then we can go from there. We don't have anymore reports to write at the office so we have the rest of the day to ourselves, unless something comes up."

"You guys are looking for him?" I asked. An idea began to form in my mind. Maybe he could help me find my dad and get him home. Everyone seemed to be afraid of him, so maybe he was really some kind of hero.

"Are you following us?" Merrill stopped walking and faced me. I shrugged my shoulders. "We have to find him; it's our job." She said sourly.

"Gosh, he shouldn't be that hard to locate," Millie stated, "there aren't that many people dressed in a long red coat that have yellow-orange sunglasses."

My mouth dropped open. _She just described Uncle V.! Could it honestly be the same man? That guy was loony; there's no way it could be the same person of whom everyone was after!_ It just didn't seem possible. Maybe he only acted nice around children or something just to get what he wanted. He wanted food and directions the other day and after that, he quit speaking.

"Hey, what's wrong, girl?" Millie asked.

I blinked once, then twice before I answered. "I know where he is. I saw him yesterday." I mentally kicked myself then because I knew when everyone found out, they would chase after him.

"Where, where did you see him? Where is he now?" Merrill demanded to know.

"Never mind," I turned around and ran the opposite way. If I was fast enough, I would make it to Jingle's house. His was to the left side of my house. I couldn't run back home because if my mom found out, then I would never be allowed out of the house again.

"Hey, come back here!" I heard them shout. They started chasing me!

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**A/N**: Uh, here's chapter 3. can't think of anything better to say :P

5


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer**: This is me not owning Trigun:( This is me putting in another chapter:)

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**Recap:** Neece met up with the two insurance girls, but ran away when they started questioning her about Vash.

Chapter 4.

I ran through some alleys and back roads. I went through this one street and almost tripped over a black cat. It had the biggest, brightest yellow eyes I have ever seen on a cat. It meowed when it saw me coming and stood still in my way. I leapt over it and kept running.

I glanced behind me and saw one of them fall into a garbage can. "Stupid animal!" I heard Merrill yell.

"Hey, it's not his fault, Merrill. We should be more careful." Millie said. I smiled to myself and silently thanked the cat, although I knew it couldn't hear me.

"Oh, Millie! Just…help me out of here, will you? We have to catch her before she gets away. We have to find Vash."

I went around the long way to throw them off. The wind kicked up for a few seconds and it blew my hair into my eyes so I couldn't see where I was going. I bumped into something really big, hard, and rather bumpy. I lay on the ground, dazed for a few seconds.

"What was that? Oh no, I think I ran over a child again. I'm just too big for this small town! I'll have to leave again and go somewhere else." I recognized that dramatic tone of voice! I tried to sit up.

"It's alive! That's a relief."

A gloved hand helped me up. As soon as my eyes focused, I could make out a long red coat. I screamed; he screamed. I stopped; he stopped.

"Oh, it's you. Say, I think your friend gave me the wrong directions because I walked in a circle and somehow ended up back here. Good thing I ran into you—well, I didn't mean to literally _run_ into you, it just happened that way I guess."

"I-I know who you are! You're really Vash the Stampede, aren't you?" I pointed my finger in the direction I thought his face was in. I was still a little dizzy, so it wasn't perfectly clear.

"HA-HA-HA! What do you mean?" He laughed.

I saw right through it though. "Not so loud, okay? Don't you know there are a lot of people after you? Right now, someone thinks I know where you are."

"But you do know where I am. I'm right next to you." He looked confused.

I shook my head. This guy couldn't be serious, could he? "Follow me, okay?" I said. I heard a weird sound just then and saw Vash drop to the ground. "Are you okay?"

He clutched his stomach. "Must…have food." He said.

"Well, I was going to show you the way out of town again, but I guess I can get you something to eat."

We walked to the general store and, with the small amount of money I had left, bought him a box of donuts. Amanda was reading a magazine, but she kept looking up every once in a while. She didn't trust him either.

"Do you mind eating them on the way? There's something I have to ask you." He had already downed more than half the box, but we went out anyway. "If I lead you out of the city, can you do me a favor in return?"

"That depends; can you get me any more donuts? I don't work on an empty stomach, you know." He wagged his finger at me.

I raised my eyebrow. "You don't even know what I'm going to ask you. You'll do it if I get you donuts?" He smiled widely and bobbed his head up and down. "Okay, it's a deal then. Remember I told you my dad was kidnapped? I think you're the only one who can save him. The police sure don't seem to be doing anything. They don't even know where to start; that's what I heard. Please help me save my dad!" I pleaded.

"Tell me where he is and I'll go get him." He agreed to help me. My eyes filled with tears. I knew he'd help me! Then my hopes sunk. "What's wrong?"

"I don't exactly know where he is either." I said quietly.

"Hm, that could very well present a problem."

"I remember one of those men saying that they were keeping him somewhere where he couldn't see any light. That could be anywhere, though!"

I heard pounding footsteps behind us and turned around to see the two women from the insurance company. They caught up to us before we could run away. "There you are! We've been running all over the city trying to find you, Vash."

"Hurry and escape while you can, Vash!" I cried.

He smiled at me. "It's okay, they're friends. You don't have to worry about them." He tried to assure me of that, but I still didn't trust them. He turned to Merrill. "You have something on your coat, there."

There was a slimy banana peel hanging on the side of her coat. She blushed and pulled it off with two fingers like it was deadly. "It's not like it's going to bite you." I stated the obvious.

She glared at me. "If you hadn't run off, I wouldn't have fallen into the garbage can!"

I glared right back. "If I didn't run off, you wouldn't have found him!"

"Okay, girls, I can see we're getting a little out of control here. Why don't we calm down and stick to our mission? Where's all the love, huh?" Vash had a confused look on his face. He didn't understand why we were fussing at each other.

Millie asked, "What exactly is our mission? I didn't know we had one."

"We're looking for her father. He was kidnapped." He informed.

"Oh, really? You poor girl!" She leaned down and gave my shoulders a squeeze.

"Millie, you already knew her father was kidnapped. That's why we were at her house in the first place." Merrill reminded.

She stood up. "Oh, that's right. I bet we could help. What can we do?"

"First, we have to find out where he is. That's probably the toughest part of all. I suppose Vash can take care of the rest once we know where they're keeping him. I heard they have him in a place where there is no light. He'll never know whether it is night or day."

Merrill was already processing the information. I could see a faraway look in her eyes like she was busy thinking. We all stood around waiting and thinking. Vash kept looking at the bag I held in my hand until I gave him another donut.

"Okay, I've got it! He must be in a basement of some sort. He'd be somewhere where there are no windows which would allow light; no electricity, either. A shed maybe? Not very many houses have basements."

"Maybe we should go back to the place where I overheard those men talking. What if they are there again? We could search that area at least." I suggested.

"Lead on," Vash said.

"Wait, what are you talking about? What guys?" Merrill asked.

I told her about when I heard the three men talking about my dad. I described what they looked like and how they acted. Then I relayed what they said, what they were after, and how they spotted me and my friends and chased us home.

I looked around to see which direction I was in so I could find where I needed to be. I led them to the well and started from there. I wondered what the other kids would think knowing that I was actually with the man who shot the whole in the fifth moon! They would all flip!

"These buildings remind me of some of the styles of the ones in July." Vash recalled. July is a city…it was a city.

"You've been to July?"  
"I blew up July." He said seriously.

My eyes bugged out. He blew the city up? "Why?" I asked dumbfounded. I thought he was one of the good guys. I didn't want a lunatic trying to save my father.

"It wasn't my fault, though. My brother made me do it." He said.

I folded my arms. "How did your brother make you do it? Did he threaten you? What a lame excuse!" Somehow, I could not believe it.

"You aren't old enough to understand," he answered.

I gritted my teeth. I hated when people said that.

"Is this the place?" Millie asked, distracting me.

I looked around. There were lots of footprints in the sand and a small hole in the ground where one of them shot at us. "This is it,"

We took a look around the corner of the house and didn't see anybody. There were footprints left where they were standing that one night. We searched everywhere for a clue of some sort, but never found one. By the time we were done, it was getting late. My mom and sister would have a cow because they didn't know where I was. They most likely thought I was still doing laundry. Finding me gone would freak them out! Especially knowing what my mom knows. She might think I was kidnapped too.

"I have to go home." I said. I didn't want to. I could have stayed with this all night or until I found my dad.

"Don't worry, kid, we'll find him. I'll take the information home with me and do some more detective work until I figure it out." Merrill assured.

"Where will you stay, Mr. Vash the Stampede?" Millie wondered.

He smiled softly. "Don't worry about me,"

We said our good byes and agreed to meet at the general store tomorrow. My family was waiting up for me when I got home. It wasn't exactly my bed time yet, but I was up past curfew. They both yelled at me for being out late.  
Mom sent me to bed without supper, but I had to take a bath first. I was supposed to stay inside the house all day the next day, but there was no way I would follow that rule!

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**A/N**: Okay, _obviously_ Vash would not tell anyone that he blew up July. I just threw that in there to make you smile or laugh. "My brother made me do it." I think that is funny!


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer**: This is me not owning Trigun :(

This is me putting in another chapter :)

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Chapter 5.

I paced my room the next day. It was not yet time to meet them at the store. Jingle and Shawna stopped at my window to see if I could play, but I told them I couldn't. I didn't tell them about Vash; I couldn't because it might endanger our endeavor to save my dad. I'd tell them afterwards, maybe.

I had the dishes finished early and the clothes folded. I folded Maya's sloppy on purpose because she kept messing up my job. I would finish with Mom's pile and then she'd "accidentally" bump them off the chair or couch.

"One of these days…" I spoke quietly to myself. I thought about starting with today, but I didn't know what to do about her behavior. Maybe after Dad was home, I would stop sneaking away, and then she would have no reason to be mean…right?

I had five minutes, but I chose to get to the store early. I had nothing better to do with my time. I grabbed some of Maya's money to get some more donuts. I hoped Vash wouldn't get sick from eating all that sugar and no real sustenance. Heroes don't get sick, do they? I couldn't be sure. Dad would know.

"Hey, where's Amanda?" I asked the male cashier. His nametag read Scott. I guessed he was a new employee.

"Don't know." He said giving an immediate bored response.

"Are you a new worker?"

"What, is this the third degree, or something? Get off my back, kid!" He looked like he was squinting at me, but he just had small eyes.

I shrugged my shoulders and ordered a box of donuts. The others would be here any minute. "You know, you might get more business here if you have a nice attitude, mister."

"Look, missy, if you don't like my attitude, then get outta' my store!" He walked around the counter and stood straight and tall. Very tall.

"What do you mean 'your store'?" I pried further before I could stop myself.

He smirked. "You're a nosy little brat, you know that?" He walked up to me. It made me rather nervous. "I _hate_ nosy brats! As a matter of fact, you look like the one who was spying on me the other night. I knew I would find you eventually!"

I gulped and clutched the box of donuts tightly between my fingers. He remembered and knew who I was! I didn't think that was possible. I didn't think anyone had seen me. What was I going to do? I couldn't run because I knew he'd catch me. I didn't have a head start, or even a plan. My heart pounded fiercely and my knuckles turned white. _Vash, where are you?_

I couldn't tell which guy this was. Could it be the one with the mask, or the nervous one, or the other guy? Making a quick deduction, I concluded it was Dex, even though his name tag stated otherwise.

"I d-don't know what you're talking about." I stuttered in denial.

"Hah! Yeah, right, they all say that. I know who you are; I followed you home! Don't even think you're gonna' make it out of here. There is no where to run anyway; I'd just catch you in a second."

He knew where I lived? He followed me home? Now everyone else was in danger too! The bad guys would go in and take away all of Dad's work plans and equipment. I kept glancing at the door. What did the girls and Vash do, stop off at the ice cream parlor? Or worse, they went to get more donuts! They wouldn't be here for hours, if that was the case.

"We'll just sit right here and wait for my friends to come around. You are not leaving at all, got it?" He sat down in a chair and pulled out a gun.

I dropped my donuts. He waved it at me and motioned for me to sit across from him. I edged my way toward the chair and slowly sat down. I didn't want to give him a reason to fire his gun. What friends were we waiting on exactly? Was it the other two men, or the boss?

Five or ten minutes later, but it felt like an hour, I heard the bell on the door chirp. I couldn't bring myself to turn around and see who it was. A wave of relief swept over me when I saw a red coat out of the corner of my eye.

"Hey, there you are, Denise!" It was Jingle. Darn! "Like my new jacket?"

"I thought you said you couldn't come outside?" Shawna said next to him. "Oh, are these your donuts? Why are they on the floor?"

I started sweating. I didn't know if I was allowed to say anything so I looked to the man across the table. He had his gun hidden, but he made eye contact with me and shook his head. What did that mean? I kept my mouth shut.

"Hello, is anybody in there? We're talking to you Denise." Shawna said.

"Answer them," the man whispered.

I looked at Jingle and Shawna and wished I could communicate to them I was in danger. No such luck. "Those belong to Uncle V." I said.

The man cleared his throat roughly. "Yeah, they are mine. Do me a favor and put them on the table for me."  
Jingle picked them up and placed them on the table. "Did you get a haircut while you were out of town?" He asked, thinking the man was Uncle V. He really didn't look _that_ similar to Vash.

"Do you want to purchase something or not?" The man asked in the same bored tone he had used with me. He narrowed his eyes, as if it was possible to get them any lower than they already were.

Jingle blinked at him and scratched his head. Then he looked at me. "Well, do you want to come with us, or not?" I shook my head and they both groaned and left.

The man looked at me. "Smart, kid, now who is Uncle V.?"

I wrinkled my brow as I thought up another lie fast. "He's just some man you look like that I met the other day."

"You're lucky I don't blow your head off now."

I visibly gulped and sunk lower in my chair. _This is a nightmare!_

Several minutes later, the bell on the door rang again and I looked straight ahead at the donuts on the counter Jingle stuck them on. They were making me hungry. "Oh, are these for me? Thank you, thank you, thank you!" This time it really was Vash! Would the trio know I was in trouble though?

"Put those down, will you? You don't even know if they belong to you!" Meryl scolded.

The man didn't leave the table where he was sitting. "Can I help you?"

"No, actually, we're meeting someone here." Millie said politely. "Oh, there you are!"

I didn't know what to do. I looked from them to the man and back and forth. I almost said something, but the man spoke instead. "She's not going with you today; she has to stay here with me."

He never even turned to look at them, but kept his eyes on me. I couldn't signal them at all! I thought of something though. "Yeah, I have to stay and help—"

"_A-hem!_" He cleared his throat loudly. He wasn't going to let me say anything! I rested my cheek in my left hand.

"Oh, well, how about we meet you tomorrow then? Uncle V. will let you come same time tomorrow." Vash said.

_Don't leave me, please, don't leave me alone with this guy!_ I thought to myself and begged with my eyes.

"No, I won't. She has to stay with me then too! Now, if you're done, please leave my shop!" The man boomed.

"Oh, okay," Vash turned to go.

I heard Meryl say, "That man is very rude! I hope he isn't like that to all his family members."

I watched them walk out the door then turned my head back around. My help just walked right out, leaving me alone with a murderous kidnapper. The door opened a second later.

"I changed my mind. She is coming with me!"

The man in front of me stood up. He turned red. "No, she isn't. Now leave my store before I make you!"

I looked at the two. Vash drew a gun out of no where and aimed it right in the man's face. "I said, 'she's coming with me,' so I suggest you back off!" Vash turned to me. "Get out of here, Denise."

I did as I was told, but as I made it to the door, two other guys walked in. They blocked the exit and pulled their own guns. I recognized Corrin right away. "Drop it, mister, or I'll blow your head right off your shoulders!"

"Aw, come on, guys! That's not very fair, don't you think? Where's the love?"

He dropped his head. He caught us all by surprise by shoving his foot high into the air behind him and kicked both of the weapons out of their hands lightning fast! **WHAM!** Millie and Meryl kicked them from behind and caught their guns. My mouth dropped wide open and I was stuck in one position: shock!

I covered my eyes and ears because I didn't know if Vash was actually going to shoot them or not. I prepared for a few loud blasts, but I didn't hear a thing. I opened my eyes cautiously and gasped. They were all tied up on the floor! How did that happen so fast?

"You can uncover your ears now." Millie said gently.

"Do you recognize any of these men?" Meryl interrogated like she was the police.

"I know him," I pointed to Corrin, "and they know where my dad is!"

"What are you going to accomplish keeping us here like this?" The one I guessed was Dex said.

"Do you even know who this is?" Meryl demanded. "You're lucky you are still alive! This is Vash the Stampede and if you don't tell us where Dr. Ernest Hinckley is, you won't be alive to see daylight tomorrow!" None of her threats went ignored.

Corrin started whimpering. "He will find out we screwed up for sure now! We will die either way!"

_"Shut up, you fool!"_ The other man shrieked.

"Who will find out? You will have to tell us one way or the other." Meryl stated.

"I know how to make them talk!" Vash grabbed Corrin and took him to the back.  
He went away screaming, "Don't let him take me away! He'll kill me!"

Vash opened a storage room door and Amanda fell out. Vash caught her before she fell to the floor. Millie came over and helped her up, untied her and pulled the tape off her mouth.

Millie, Vash, and I went into the room and pulled out all the information we wanted from the guy. He was worse than a leaky faucet! I wondered how the others had put up with him. I assumed they would have killed him in the end anyway when they got a chance. That happens in books all the time.

"Not even Vash the Stampede can stop this guy! He's a madman, a maniac, a lunatic—"  
"We understand: he's crazy. We got the picture, we catch your drift, we know what you mean—"Millie began.

I tugged on her shirt. "Okay, we all got it."

"Oh, good, I didn't know what else to say." She sighed with relief.

I shook my head. This planet was full of strange people! I've never met anyone like these guys before. That's probably because my mom never lets me outside the house often.

From all the information we gathered, we found that Mr. Jack Cracker wanted my dad's plans to create a universal disease and then make a cure that only he could sell so he would have all the profit! They lured him in by making him think there were moon rocks that had fallen down. I felt my blood boil then. It was all crazy, sick, and twisted! Why would anyone want to make someone sick? Of course, right now, I wanted to make that cracker, Jack, worse than sick!

Meryl was right; they were hiding him in a basement, more like a cellar, really. Amanda went to report the incident to the police. Vash brought Corrin out of the storage area and set him on the floor with the others.

"I could kill you myself, Corrin! You backstabbing, yellow-bellied, traitor!" One guy said.

"Dan, what else am I supposed to do? I don't wanna' die." Corrin whined; he was getting very good at that.

"It looks like the police are coming, Vash. We should get going before they spot us. If they do, they'll want to…what are you doing?" Meryl looked grossed out.

I threw my gaze towards Vash and noticed his mouth was covered with a white substance and there were a few spots of red and purple on his cheek. He looked up innocently and stuffed another donut in his mouth.

"Gross! Get a napkin, you nasty pig!" Meryl demanded. Vash stuck out his tongue at her. It was covered in powder and bits of donut. They acted like me and my sister did sometimes!

We grabbed some extra food and headed out. I thought we would finally be free to go find him, but when I caught sight of my sister, I knew this would be a tough situation. She spotted me before I could flinch and caught up to us before we could go too far. _"Denise!_ Just what do you think you're doing? If I have to, I'll chain you to the fence until every last chore is done. Mom is going to have a cow when I tell her that you snuck out again!"

I turned red. I almost panicked. Then Millie popped up and said, "What kind of cow?"

"And just who are you guys anyway? Who said you could hang out with strangers? Don't you realize how dangerous that is?"

Meryl answered her. "We're helping her find her father. What are you doing to find him? We need all the help we can get, you know."

For the first time in years I saw my sister blush from embarrassment, and I cherished every moment of it! "Well, I…I helped my mom hire someone,"

I folded my arms and looked her straight in the eye. "I did too, and I'm helping them, so you can just go back and tell Mom to wait up for me. And go back to that cubbyhole you call a room." I stuck out my tongue at her.

We glared at each other for a moment and she turned away with her fat snout in the air and stalked off, defeated. Another battle had been won and now we would finally be off to find my dad and bring him back.

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**Thanks:** Mucho thanks to Alaena Night for her supreme reviews.I corrected the spelling of Meryl's name in this chapter and will continue to keep it that way.

**A/N:** Vash may be a little OOC, but that shouldn't be a problem. Hehe, Millie is so funny! I should have given her more lines. Thank you for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer**: This is me not owning Trigun :( This is me putting in another chapter :)

Oh my goodness, we had to get our computer fixed so I couldn't put up any more chapters until now. Oh my goodness. Well, here is number 6. Um, it's the last chapter.

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Chapter 6.

We were walking for a few minutes and Vash stopped abruptly. I looked at his face. He was concentrating on something. "Someone's following us," he whispered.

I searched back and forth and all around, but I saw nothing. Vash walked over to the side of a building and aimed his left arm around the corner. I heard a high shriek and we ran to see who it was. Corrin sat on the ground shaking all over.

"Where are the other two?" Meryl demanded.

"I—I was the only one who escaped. Please, Mr. Vash, don't kill me. I want to help you find Jack Cracker, since I know exactly where he is."

Vash let his arm hang at his side and said, "Let's get going then. We're losing daylight!"

Corrin had a big mouth. He talked so much on the way that I thought Meryl would grab one of Vash's guns and threaten him with it. Later I found out that she had her own weapons. Millie kept laughing at the jokes he told. I didn't understand most of them, so I walked behind them quietly.

"Over there is where Jack lives, but Dr. Ernest is being held in the building straight across from his house. I don't know how to get in there, someone always had to let me in from the inside…hey, we can just do that this time, can't we?"

"Hehe, what a brilliant idea, Corrin." Millie enthused. She was all smiles.

"What do I do?" I asked. I didn't like the idea of standing around alone outside.

Four adults stopped everything and slowly turned their heads my direction. They blinked and looked at each other. I wondered what they were thinking just then. Everyone focused their eyes on Vash next.

"Well, Denise, I forgot you were here. You'll have to go home or some place safe because this is the really dangerous part of our mission." He explained.

I lowered my eyebrows at him. "I've come this far, don't expect me to leave now. I'm old enough to be here, and I wanna' help!"

"Look, Denise," Meryl bent down to my eye level. "Of course you're big enough and old enough and everything, but we don't want you to get hurt. If you do, it'll be more work on our part for the insurance. You can trust us to get your dad back safely. Vash won't let anything happen to him, right Vash?" Vash nodded his head.

"Besides, little girl, if your dad sees you, or if you happen to get captured by a guard, or something, he might actually give in. Then he'd be a goner for sure."

I hung my head. "You're right, I can't endanger him."

"And if you get hurt, who will supply my food?" Vash asked, sticking out his lower lip. I couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

They went on and I pretended to go home. After they were in, I easily snuck up to a window to see. It was boarded up from the outside so no light could get in. I really could help my dad! I grabbed the board to pull it off and out of the way, but it was stuck tight. It had been nailed and screwed in place.

I spit on my hands, rubbed them together, and gave a hard yank. It didn't even budge! "I don't give up that easily." I looked around for any sort of tool I could use. We really were losing daylight, and I wanted more than anything for my dad to know what time of day it was.

I saw some big rocks but I decided against it. If I used them to scrape away the board, someone would hear me; I couldn't chance that. It was quiet out and someone was sure to hear any noise whatsoever.

"There has to be something," I walked around for a while, making sure I knew how to get back. Somewhere along the way I found some glass and some long nails. Who would leave nails just lying around for someone to step on?

I started scratching at the board and I got pretty far in ten minutes. I worked on another side for a few minutes and was able to take apart a tiny bit. I finally made a hole big enough for me to see inside and I looked in. I saw nothing to the right so I turned my gaze to the left. There was nobody in the room! I must have undone the wrong board to the wrong window. I hoped I didn't have to go all around the place just to find the correct room.

Three more boards later I had to take a break. I was just wasting my time. I sat down next to the wall to rest a moment. It hadn't occurred to me until now that they might have already rescued him. _Oh, no! If they have him out, they won't know I'm still here; I really haven't helped at all. I should have listened to them._ I dusted off my hands and found one of them wet. Now I was bleeding on top of everything else. I wiped my hand on my pants and it stung when I did.

A bright light shone right in my face just then. I closed my eyes tightly and held my hand to my eyes. Someone stepped in front of the light. I opened my eyes, but I had to squint.

"Well, well, look what we have here," a voice spoke. A man walked up to me from past the light and lifted me to my feet. He had small glasses, crazed eyes, an awkward smile, and smelly breath! It was Jack on crack, maybe.

"You lost, kid? No, I don't think so." He answered his own question. "I think you're here on the count of you knowing something, or maybe you're trying to help someone."

Would he buy my lies? I am a terrible liar. "I was playing with my friends and one of them came this way, so I followed him—"

He brought me closer to his face. "No one dares come here. They know I don't handle strangers politely." He shoved me up against the side of the building and let me drop to the ground. It hurt and tears threatened to spill from my eyes.

He turned around to look at some people behind him and then back at me again.

"Ah, this gives me an excellent idea! You, my dear, can be the test subject. You'll be an important part to my mission: you will be responsible for starting everything! What do you say, darling?" He licked his lips.

I gulped and my throat went dry. "W-what mission?" My eye began twitching.

"Perfect, then you _will_ help me!" He turned back around and addressed someone else by snapping his fingers. "Bring her,"

He was talking about the disease! I would not be a part of that! "No,"

"Ha, you have no choice now!" A man with a deep voice and a long beard came toward me.

"No, no! Somebody help me!" I tried to run away, but he caught me before I could get too far. I struggled and squirmed, but I was no match for this guy. Worse than all this, I had let down Vash, and my dad. _What if they actually did catch Vash; everyone else too?_ I thought.

The man took me inside the building and through a couple of hallways and finally into a dark room. He turned on the lights and I saw a chair near the wall. "Down we go, into the chair with you." He closed shackles around both my arms and legs. It kept me from moving anywhere.

Jack walked in the room and pulled on some surgical latex gloves. "Ready, my dear? You are the perfect test subject to see if this will work." He went to a drawer under a cabinet and pulled out three long syringes. Don't you usually only need one?

I gulped long and hard. I hate needles! I also hate crazy freaks who stick you with them. I tried to pull my hands free from the shackles, but they were closed tightly around my wrists.

"Now, now, no wiggling, my dear, or you'll make it worse." He gave one of the needles to the other guy.

"I'm _not_ your _dear!"_ I screamed.

"At this point, darling, it doesn't matter if you were my mother. Nothing is going to stop me from being the richest person in the universe!" His right eye twitched. He nodded to the bearded man. "Make my day; execute the first stage."

"Don't listen to him, please, don't!" I begged.

I moved my left arm around, but he held it down firmly and injected the needle. I cringed; it hurt so badly! Jack handed him another one. "Now we follow through with stage two!" He laughed to himself, "Hehe, I'm so clever!"

Another painful injection later I was starting to feel unusually queasy; nauseous, maybe. They waited a while and watched me. Jack began to take notes even. "Now, tell me: do you have feeling in your left arm still? You shouldn't, but if you do, we have to wait another minute or so."

He waited for my answer, but I couldn't exactly think straight. What was the question, again? Do I have an arm? _They want your arm!_ My head screamed at me. I gritted my teeth. _Don't let them take it, it belongs to you!_

"It's mine, not yours!" I barked.

They looked at each other. "Do you feel sick, like you're about to throw up? Tell me now, my dear, this is very important."

What was he saying to me? I couldn't feel my left arm, but I felt like I would throw up any second. What was there to throw up? I hadn't eaten in a long time. When was the last time I ate?

"I don't know," it sounded like the right thing to say.

"Do you think it is working? She certainly looks sick." The man with a beard said.

"I do not!" I screamed. I don't know why though. Maybe because I had to go to the bathroom and I was stuck in a chair.

Jack came over to where the man with a beard stood and slapped my arm, I think. I didn't feel a thing. "Help me, and continue with stage three…oh, another good one!"

"Wow, you should write these down, boss."

"Shut up, and get on with it!"

My right arm began shaking and it made the rest of me shake also. The guy had a grip on my arm but wasn't sticking me yet. "What are you waiting for? I don't have all night!" Jack shrieked.

"I can't poke her unless she's still! I didn't know she would shake so violently like this."

"Give me that!" He took it from the guy.

I remembered my dad and helping Vash and everyone trying to find him just then. "Where is Vash? I think he's hungry."

They stopped dead still. _"What_ did you say?"

"Ow, my stomach hurts," I complained.

"What about Vash the Stampede?"

At that point, it certainly felt like a stampede was on the way. I couldn't take it anymore, so I leaned over my right arm and threw up on the floor. The two men looked grossed out.

_BAM!_ The door broke apart and in came a man with a bunch of weapons; something that resembled a cross. It didn't make any sense to me what was going on. A bunch of other guys came in the room and I was set free from the chair I was in. I lay down on the cold cement floor and clutched my stomach with my right arm. My left arm wasn't doing anything, so I didn't force it.

There was a lot of loud noise—screaming and yelling. Jack and the other man were taken out of the room and only two or three others stayed. I didn't recognize anyone. I was supposed to be helping people look for my dad. Where did they go?

"Are you okay, girl? You look horrible! What did they do to you?" The man with the cross asked.

I looked up at him. What did he want? "I feel really sick; my stomach hurts. Where is he?" I couldn't make up my mind as to what I wanted to say.

"Denise, Denise, look at me! What happened?" My dad sat next to the man. I don't know how he got in.

"I was looking for you, Dad." That's what I remember doing anyway.

"You found me, Denise. Did they hurt you, dear?"

Dear? _I'm _not _your_ dear! I had said that before, so maybe I should say it again. I was in a lot of pain though, so it didn't come out as strong. "I'm not your dear. Where's Vash? He's…oh-h-h, my stomach hurts!"

I kept my eyes fixated on my dad. He went around the room like he was looking for something. Someone distracted me. "Hi there, I'm Nicolas P. Wolfwood; I'm a friend of Vash the Stampede. I'm going to hold this to your forehead." It was wet and cold. It made me thirsty, but I couldn't reach it.

"Denise, can you do me a favor, please?" Dad asked. "Try very hard not to move or shake no matter how much it hurts."

I was moving? I don't think so. "I can't move," I explained to him.

My dad had a needle. I hate needles! "Ow, don't hurt me!" I yelled at him. People were watching me; I could see them. "Go away." I ordered. They backed off.

"There, it's all over, sweetie. You will feel better in a minute. I'll be right back; can you stay with her?" My dad looked tired.

"Sure thing, doc." Nicolas P. Wolfwood agreed.

"Good night, Nicolas P. Wolfwood," I closed my eyes. I was so tired.

"You can just call me Wolfwood…"

I sat up in a bed. Where was I? I had a weird dream that…or was it a dream? I glanced at my left arm. I gasped: there was a big red and purple spot right on my forearm. It was true then…Dad, where was Dad? I got up quickly and changed my clothes. I still didn't know where I was.

"What do you think you are doing? You can't leave. Get back in bed!" My sister Maya stood in my way.

"Where are we? Are Mom and Dad here too?" I would see them if I had to shove her out of my way.

"You really need to lie down again! We're in our house, silly, and they are in the kitchen. I should tell them you are up, so stay put."

I did as I was told. I looked around more closely; I was in the guest bedroom. Usually no one is allowed in the room, but I didn't know why I am here and not my room.

"Denise, you're awake, you're awake! You have been asleep for a day and a half: no one really knew for sure if you were alive or not!" My mom shrieked wildly. She and Dad piled into my room and clung to me tightly.

"What happened? Dad, how did you escape? The last thing I remember is that lunatic, Jack Cracker, the bearded man, Wolfwood, and Vash and—"

"Calm down, Denise," my dad began, "believe it or not, Vash helped rescue us! He found a buddy of his, Mr. Wolfwood, I believe, and then came and got me out. We almost left the city when Vash heard you scream. We went to find you and Mr. Wolfwood aided me in saving you."

As he talked and told what had happened, I began to recall the details on my part, so he just filled in the whole story. Mom added something to all we were saying: "Since we caught that filthy skunk, we got a reward and now we can afford insurance!" She smiled widely and hugged me again.

Maya walked into the room. "I'm real glad you're okay, Neece. You had us all scared." We all hugged for the first time in months. I was very thankful to have our family back together!

"Does anyone know where Vash is?" I asked hopefully.

"Denise, I don't think it's a good idea for you to be around him. Everyone is after him and danger follows him where ever he goes." Dad explained. "You need to forget about him and be thankful we are all home safe and sound. Now, though, you need more sleep to heal up. Thankfully, there is no way the disease will spread."

"You got it to stop from spreading?" I smiled.

Dad shrugged. "They got the recipe, so to speak, from me, but it was for the wrong thing. I also gave him the antidote for it so he had it on hand when we found you."

"What did you tell him?" Maya asked, stunned. "Neece's case seemed pretty serious!"

"I told him how to give out the all too common flu bug. He messed up somewhere in putting it together, so it made it all the worse."  
Mom slapped him up side the head. "Why in the world did you risk that on her?"

"Darling, I didn't even know she was there. They told me she went home."

I averted my gaze and stared through the wall. "I didn't exactly listen to them," I said quietly.

"Honestly, you don't listen to anyone, do you?" My mom cried. She told of my disobedience to Dad since he had been gone.

He shook his head. "Neece, don't you understand that when you don't obey whoever is in charge, you get in trouble? Our rules are there for a reason: to keep you safe." I nodded my head in agreement.

They all left the room so I could go to sleep. I hardly slept at all when a knock came at the window. Who would be at my window? My friends didn't know what happened, so it couldn't be them.

"Is anybody in there? I mean…meow, I'm a cat; purr, meow, I want some donuts—er, milk!"

"No, you have to just say 'meow' so they'll think you're a cat!" A voice corrected.

I smiled to myself; I didn't need to look for him; he found me. How did he do that? I remembered what Dad had said moments ago, but he probably set this up, so he wouldn't mind, right?

I sat up and stood on a chair to open the window and squeeze through. "Vash, is that you?" I yawned and blinked at the evening sunlight.

"Hey, how ya' doin' kid?" Wolfwood stood next to Vash who kept hopping up and down until Wolfwood put a hand on his shoulder to hold him down—it didn't work.

"Sorry, I don't have any more money to buy food." I apologized.

Vash dropped to his knees. "No!" He whined.

Wolfwood kicked at an invisible rock. "Aw, I was really looking forward to having a free meal, too! Vash, you promised me!"

"HA-HA-HA-HA! I did, did I?" Vash scratched at the back of his head.

Two more heads popped up. "Yeah, you promised us, too! What do we get outta' this?"

"Stop being so darn demanding, Millie!" Meryl demanded.

I laughed. "Hang on a minute while I get some money." I ran across the hallway to my sister's room and took more money. She really shouldn't mind since I was helping friends.

"Okay, let's go!"

"Hold on there, kiddo!" I started to climb through the window, but Meryl stopped me. "We'll have to take this one to go. It's time for us to go—"

"Aw, do we have to?" Millie whined.

"A-_hem!_ The whole neighborhood is almost in an uproar because of what happened, so we have to play it cool for now. We'll come back to visit, okay?" She explained.

My friends would never believe me if I told them. "Well, I don't know how to thank you for saving me and my dad…could you sign your names for me so my friends will believe me when I tell them everything?" I smiled and raised my eyebrows up and down over and over again.

They looked at each other. "Why not? We have the time." Wolfwood spoke.

I pumped my fist and grabbed a pencil and some paper. They were gone in minutes. It was kind of difficult to say good bye, but they promised to visit. Before they left, I promised Vash I'd earn more money to buy him donuts. I even thought about owning my own donut shop one day…just for him!

I looked down at the paper after they had gone. Vash put down: your own peace maker, lover of justice, and of all that is right, Uncle V. the Stampede. Thanks for the donuts!

Everyone else put down their names and Wolfwood drew a picture of the cross he was carrying. I couldn't be ignored now! _I will never forget you, Vash the Stampede. Maybe one day I can help you just as you helped me! _

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**A/N:** Wow, I can't believe it took this long just to put up the final chapter. It's kinda' embarrassing, but what can I do? Hope you all enjoyed it.

Thank you, everyone who read my story the whole way through, and for the few that did review! God bless!

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